Team Mumbai officials at ISL drafts © ISLThey were not the most expensively assembled outfit during the Hero Indian Super League (ISL) domestic player draft. That distinction went to Atletico de Kolkata who spent Rs 3.91 cr on their 14 signings.Team Mumbai trooped in second at Rs 3.76 but earned the sobriquet “Real Madrid of India” from officials of rival clubs for their high-priced signings of Subrata Paul and Syed Rahim Nabi, to add to the star cast they had assembled in Lalrindika Ralte, Raju Gaikwad and ace veteran defender Deepak Mondal.There may however be some Real-ity about such talk because Anirban Das Blah, who was on the Mumbai ‘bench’ at the player draft, is a huge fan of the Santiago Bernabéu residents, even as his friend and Mumbai club co-owner Ranbir Kapoor is a diehard fan and Indian brand ambassador of FC Barcelona.Blah however seeks to dispel impressions that he was trying to do a Madrid in Mumbai. ”I know that we seem to have big names but I don’t think that a football club is about big names, it’s about how you play,” he explains. The rationale behind the selection of several players was because they were multi-functional (Nabi, Mondal etc) and overall, the squad represents a “great blend of youth and experience”.So given the Real-Barca affiliations of the people behind Mumbai, will the team play the counter-attacking football that helped Los Blancos humble Pep Guardiola’s Bayern Munich in the semis en route to the UEFA Champions League title, or the patented tiki taka possession-based style that helped the Blaugrana scale dizzy heights in the recent past?“We have a very clear philosophy that we want to play attacking possession-based football.”Anirban Das Blah, Team MumbaiThe former Globosports (the Mahesh Bhupathi-owned firm) head honcho is clear about which direction the team will take. He says that their yet-to-be-named manager will not dictate their style of play; rather, the coach will be dictated by our style of play. “We have a very clear philosophy that we want to play attacking possession-based football,” he informs. Elucidating on the subject, Blah adds, “We need to combine directness with possession, we don’t think that pure possession or pure counter attacking football will work.”Asked about Ranbir’s involvement in the team selection, Blah said he used to call in from Corsica, France, every few hours during the draft, and over the two days of the process they had at least eight conversations. He also assures that the Bollywood star would be present at every match, whether home or away, except if he is shooting!“This is a labour of love, it’s about people who want to do something about football,” the Shillong-born Blah affirms, saying that nobody has got into it with the objective of making any money in the first four-five years. “That is a long term goal but we feel that like everywhere else in the world football should be a gigantic sport in this country.” he says.